Gunther has made a new name for himself on the WWE main roster as probably the best wrestler on the main roster.
The huge Austrian wrestles with an old-school style that isn’t seen nowadays. You can just imagine him travelling round the territories, battling the stars of the day and pinning them with an Irish whip or something equally as nondescript.
The Ring General, who was formerly known as WALTER in NXT and the independent scene, is a master in the ring and proficient at every aspect of wrestling.
He can brawl with the best of them, tie you in knots with his technical skills and even fly from the top rope if needs be (although I’m not sure how many wrestlers would agree to taking a big splash from the 300 lb European.
Here in this article, we will go over Gunther’s best matches so far in the WWE. It looks at his run in NXT, his record breaking United Kingdom Championship reign and his time as Intercontinental Champion on the main roster.
Let us know what your favourite match involving Gunther – or WALTER – in WWE is, down in the comments before once you finished reading this article.
Best Gunther matches in WWE
10. vs A-Kid – NXT UK
An all European encounter is first on the list of the best WALTER matches in WWE. The Austrian WALTER took on the Spaniard A-Kid in a match where the outcome was inevitable. However the ride getting there was well worth the watch.
It took a huge lariat after a gruelling yet fast paced match to put the down the young Spaniard. It was a star making performance. A-Kid was part of some fantastic matches in NXT UK including a match with Jordan Devlin, but the one that put on people’s radar was this match on the list of the best WALTER matches in WWE.
9. vs Kushida – NXT
The Japanese superstar from NXT took on WALTER in one of both men’s best matches in WWE. The result of the match unknown, as unlike most matches on this list, the United Kingdom championship was not on the line.
The match was the classic “big man vs little man”. Kushida was the “David” trying to fell the giant Austrian Goliath. The match harkened back to some of Kushida’s harder hitting matches in Japan, and WALTER was the perfect partner for that.
WALTER picked up the win, as he usually does. The Ring General kept up his winning streak and put down Kishida in what was one of the best WALTER matches in WWE.
8. vs Rampage Brown – NXT UK: Prelude
One of the best British wrestlers currently wrestling earned his United Kingdom title shot at NXT UK: Prelude, and the match lived up to both his and WALTER’s expectations.
The match took place in April 2021, on a special episode of NXT UK where the main event was Rampage Brown vs WALTER for the United Kingdom Championship. The former World of Sport Heavyweight champion took on the mighty WALTER in a blockbuster match against two heavyweights who are two of the best big men on the UK scene over the last ten years.
It was a fast pace, well built match with hard hitting action and neither men pulling any punches. As expected, the dominant champ reigned as he pinned Rampage Brown for the title, but Rampage came out looking great and certain for another championship opportunity down the line.
7. vs Tommaso Ciampa – NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver
The first match on this list that also featured on our list of the best WWE matches of 2021 is WALTER’s title defence against Tommaso Ciampa. The former NXT Champion challenged WALTER for his United Kingdom Championship at NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver in a match that stole an already fantastic show.
WALTER would get the win over Ciampa to retain his championship, with the pair showing excellent chemistry and working to emphasise the size and strength advantage WALTER possessed over the current NXT Champion.
6. vs Ilja Dragunov & Pete Dunne (with Alexander Wolfe) – NXT UK
Two of the Imperium members took on Ilja Dragunov and Pete Dunne in a blockbuster tag team match on NXT UK.
The match main evented the October 15th 2020 edition of NXT UK, and featured exceptional in-ring action as you would expect from the four men involved.
WALTER pulled out the biggest chops he could, once again ruining the chests of his opponents and leaving them raw and bloody once the match was done.
However, Ilja Dragunov shocked the world by pinning the United Kingdom champion, a rare loss for the dominant Austrian. He stole the show and wowed the fans, showing that he could one day become the United Kingdom Champion.
5. vs Pete Dunne- NXT Takeover: New York
Fans were starting to think that Pete Dunne would never lose the United Kingdom Championship. He had held the belt for 685 days, and have beaten a number of high-profile challengers like Tyler Bate and Mark Andrews.
That all changed when WALTER made his WWE debut at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool to confront the champion. WALTER made his intentions to take the championship from Pete Dunne, and the match set NXT Takeover: New York in April 2019.
In an extraordinary 25-minute bout, NXT fans were wowed as the Austrian star defeated the long time United Kingdom Champion, pinning Pete Dunne to become the third ever United Kingdom Champion.
WALTER showcased incredible power and presence in the match, harkening back to an old school style of wrestling. His presentation was that of an attraction, in the vein of Andre the Giant.
While many fans of NXT may not have been aware of WALTER, with the bulk of his work being in Europe, they left the arena that night with a new favourite champion in wrestling, and that was the Austrian giant WALTER.
4. vs Undisputed Era (with Imperium) – WWE Worlds Collide 2020
Multi-man tag team matches featuring top talent always produce great matches, but this one took it to another level.
After a brief feud on NXT TV, the main event of WWE Worlds Collide 2020 was set as the Undisputed Era vs Imperium. The team of Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong took on the team of WALTER, Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel. It was a huge eight man tag team match between the biggest factions of NXT and NXT UK.
The in ring ability of each made sure that this was a top class match, but it was actually a injury that made the potentially better than it would have.
Alexander Wolfe suffered an injury early in the match, taking him out of the running and making the match effectively a 4-on-3 handicap match. The seven remaining worked around this limitation to perfection, in a way that would make you think that the injury was planned all along.
3. vs Tyler Bate – NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff
NXT Takeover Cardiff marked the first WWE ran a major show in Wales. It featured some fantastic matches, including two of the best Welsh wrestler being the first Welshmen to win championships in the WWE.
However, despite that absolutely incredible performance, the match of the night went to the main event. It is the best match I have ever seen live and for me, the greatest WALTER match he’s even been a part of.
However, the users over at Cagematch rated it number three in WALTER’s best WWE matches. That match is WALTER vs Tyler Bate for the United Kingdom Championship.
WALTER as usual pulled out an incredible performance, but the match made Tyler Bate the star of the show. He showed incredible spirit, power and strength trying to take down the man mountain that is WALTER. His repeated attempts at the Tyler Driver 97 had the crowd on their feet, and they exploded once he finally hit it for the near fall.
When WALTER hit Bate with a powerbomb toward the end of the match, the air was sucked out of the arena. As the champion went for the cover, fans knew that the match was over and that WALTER had retained the United Kingdom Championship.
However, they soon erupted as Bate kicked out at one, shocking the champ as he leapt to his feet ready to keep on fighting. A huge clothesline knocked him down again for the win, but the Englishman came out of the match looking like he could beat WALTER should a rematch be booked.
2. vs Ilja Dragunov – NXT UK
If fans of Ilja Dragunov feel slighted that his match vs WALTER didn’t get the top spot, don’t worry – the pair take both of the top spots.
The second best match of WALTER in WWE is his first clash with the Russian wrestler Ilja Dragunov in NXT UK. The pair fought over WALTER’s United Kingdom Championship, with WALTER coming out on top on this occasion.
This match is arguably the best match in WWE of 2020, and one of the best in WWE history, despite only being WALTER’s second best match. This is a testament to the incredible ability of these men.
It was an old-school style match of brutal proportions. Dragunov’s chest was red raw after the match, looking more like he’d been in a car crash than a wrestling match. Whilst that is part and parcel of a WALTER match, this one took it to another level.
1. vs Ilja Dragunov – NXT Takeover 36
The top match of WALTER’s WWE career also was ranked as the best WWE match of 2021. It just beat out Jordan Devlin’s terrific match against A-Kid for the top spot, in a list dominated by the top matches from NXT UK.
With their first bout being WALTER’s second best WWE match, some folks did not expect any match to be able to surpass it. Luckily, both WALTER and Ilja Dragunov are two of the best talents currently in WWE today.
It was a match that received rave reviews and a 5.25 star rating from Dave Meltzer, Dragunov ended the champions 870 day reign of the United Kingdom Championship and became the first Russian to hold the crown.
The match went over 25 minutes and was one of the hardest hitting and gruesome looking matches in NXT UK history. The match was meant to take place in 2020, and faced two postponements before the duo finally set foot in the ring again.
Ilja Dragunov locked in The Sleeper to finally end the reign of the monstrous Austrian. He ended one of the greatest reigns in WWE history, and with WALTER look set to make the move to America, the end of his time in NXT UK for good.
